So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?

Chapter 260: Let Them Kill Each Other (2)

Il-mok and his group left Mount Baihe behind, making their way toward Guangyuan County.

Jeong Hyeon took the lead since she wasn't carrying anyone on her back.

Thanks to her mastery of the Ghostly Spirit Divine Bow, she was able to expand her senses over a considerably wide area, and she led the party so they could travel without encountering anyone.

As they traveled toward Guangyuan County while avoiding populated areas, Il-mok gave his companions a brief rundown of everything that had happened on Mount Baihe.

He explained that the nightmare that had engulfed them was actually a Formation created by the Blood Cult, and that Mount Baihe itself had been a massive trap set by them. He told them about deceiving Beggar Chaser and the Murim Alliance's Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, and how they'd worked together to bring down the Blood Cult's scheme.

And then, he dropped the bomb by telling them that after crushing the Blood Cult’s plot, he'd fought the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord to the death and won. This elicited various reactions from his party.

“We have heard the stories, Young Master. Wasn't that man your sworn enemy and the very reason you came to the Central Plains?"

"Congratulations."

Some congratulated Il-mok on avenging himself.

"I'm sorry, Big Brother. I couldn't help at all..." Seon-ah said with a guilty expression.

"I'm sorry, Young Master." The same goes for Jin Hayeon.

That wasn't the reaction he was going for, so Il-mok quickly changed the subject.

"Oh, right. I forgot to mention the most important thing. I found the remains of the Blood Tears Heavenly Demon."

"!!!!"

The group skidded to a halt as if they'd slammed into an invisible wall.

A storm of emotions swirled in their eyes.

Il-mok held out the bundle he'd made from his shirt.

“There’s not much left but old bones and dust, so I grabbed what I could.”

“A-Are those really… the remains of the Blood Tears Heavenly Demon?" Dam Bin stammered.

From his perch on Seon-ah’s back, Il-mok nodded.

“He left a message there. He said to thank any of his followers who found their way to him, and that he was sorry.”

He conveniently left out the part where he cursed out the entire Orthodox Faction. No need to tarnish the perfect image they had of the old Heavenly Demon.

"Aaah..."

The second they heard that, they immediately dropped to the ground with expressions full of emotion.

“Long live the Heavenly Demon! Long may he reign!”

They bowed earnestly toward Il-mok, or more precisely, toward the remains of the Blood Tears Heavenly Demon in his hands.

'Times like this really remind me they're fanatics.' Il-mok thought.

"We shouldn't waste time here. We need to send these remains to the main headquarters as soon as possible."

If he hadn't said that, Il-mok suspected they might have spent the entire day bowing and speaking in tongues.

Whatever the case, they reached Guangyuan and booked an entire inn.

After Seon-ah set Il-mok down from her back, she stared at her hands with what seemed like a wistful expression.

"......"

Il-mok tried his best to pretend he hadn't seen it and gave instructions to the party.

“Everyone’s exhausted. First things first, go get cleaned up. After that, meditate and work on your injuries.”

He put a little extra emphasis on the "cleaned up" part.

They decided to split up and use separate rooms so everyone could rest comfortably. Some took baths, while others grabbed a simple meal.

When Il-mok came back to his room feeling clean and refreshed, he found a woman waiting for him.

It wasn't Seon-ah.

"What brings you here, Squad Leader Dam?"

She'd clearly just bathed as moisture still clung to her hair.

Maybe it was just because he was remembering that sultry smile she got when she was fighting, but Il-mok sensed an eerie seductive vibe coming from her.

But contrary to Il-mok's expectations (?), what came out of her mouth was strictly business.

"Young Warrior Ouyang's condition is getting worse by the hour, Young Master."

"...The effects of the Formation haven't worn off?"

“His Qi Deviation and his inner demons are at their worst now. He is trapped in his own nightmare.”

"...We need to get to Pingliang County as soon as possible."

The physicians sent from headquarters were in Pingliang County, so he thought they might be able to fix him as long as they got there on time.

But Dam Bin just shook her head.

"He won't last until we get there."

"Then we'll have to find a physician here."

"There's a risk of exposing that he practices a Demonic Art."

After saying that much, she added with what looked like a determined expression, “Actually… there is one way I might be able to treat him. But I’ll be completely defenseless while I’m doing it, so I came to inform you beforehand."

"Saving Young Warrior Ouyang is the priority. Don't worry about it."

Dam Bin clasped her fists at Il-mok's answer and turned to leave the room. As Il-mok watched her retreating figure, curiosity suddenly struck him.

"By the way, when did you study medicine, Squad Leader Dam?"

Dam Bin turned her head to answer. "It's not medicine."

"???"

"It's merely a nourishing technique."

"A nourishing technique?"

When he repeated the question, she didn’t explain. She just gave him a slow, soft, knowing smile and left the room.

Bin gave a gentle smile with a seductive curve to her lips before leaving the room.

It was a smile that was more than a little seductive.

Thanks to that smile, Il-mok could easily guess what this "nourishing technique" was.

'Oh boy...'

It had to be bedroom arts. Or what some call dual cultivation techniques.

As lewd thoughts began forming in his mind, Il-mok quickly shook his head.

'It's just treatment.'

So why would Dam Bin have learned that kind of skill?

Il-mok could easily deduce the reason.

'It's because of Master.'

More specifically, she must have learned it for the Heavenly Demon.

She was a squad leader of the Hidden Guard Pavilion, and the Hidden Guard Pavilion exists to serve the Heavenly Demon. She'd learned this nourishing technique in case the Heavenly Demon or Cult Leader she served ever suffered severe internal injuries or Qi Deviation.

Especially since the side effect of the Demonic Art she practiced was related to lust, so it’s a perfect match.

'Do all the women in the Hidden Guard Pavilion learn it? Or did Squad Leader Dam learn it as a bonus because of her Demonic Art's side effects?'

The question popped into his head, but Il-mok quickly shook it away.

Most of the women around him belonged to the Hidden Guard Pavilion. It wasn't right to be thinking about them like that.

Il-mok left his room and informed his companions.

"Squad Leader Dam will be treating Young Warrior Ouyang. We don't want to disturb them, so everyone move your rooms farther down the hall.”

It was a consideration for Squad Leader Dam.

When Il-mok returned to his room, he sat on the bed and crossed his legs in meditation.

'Stop getting distracted. One wrong move and I could end up crippling myself.'

His own internal injuries were no joke. He had to focus on his own healing.

"Huuu..."

Il-mok closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly sank deep into his inner world.

Right at that moment...

Vriiiiiiing.

The Ascension Sword lying in a corner of the room let out a sword cry.

With one crisis after another, Il-mok hadn't paid it any attention and hadn’t noticed that the sword was once again bathed in a ghostly light.

***

He didn’t know how much time had passed since he began treating his internal injuries.

By the time he opened his eyes again, he discovered that his room was packed with more than a hundred vengeful spirits.

"Holy shit, you scared me!"

Every single one of them is bathed in bloody light. Some of them have missing legs or arms, and some of them bleed from all seven orifices. He could tell they were vengeful spirits rather than corpses because they weren't sprawled on the floor but standing upright and staring at him.

Plus, their bodies are somewhat translucent, making it obvious that they are ghosts.

As if they'd been waiting for Il-mok to finish his meditation, the vengeful spirits started wailing the moment he opened his eyes.

"You bastaaaard!!!"

"You think you'll get away with killing us?!"

"Blood!! Give me back my blood!!!"

After the initial shock wore off, Il-mok could easily figure out what was going on.

'Guess I let the sword drink a little too much.'

He’d repeatedly stabbed the sword into the carved pathways when he fought in the previous battle. It seemed these vengeful spirits had gotten mixed into all that Blood Qi he'd absorbed then.

“Kill him!! Kill him now!!”

"I'll suck your blood and restore my body!!"

There was something about the way they were screaming that seemed strangely familiar.

'They're like a mob of angry Karens.'

Of course, never had to deal with a hundred of them at once, but the attitude was exactly the same. Though none of them had ever shown up covered in blood before.

Grasping the entire situation, Il-mok stood up and roared back.

"Why the hell are you taking it out on the wrong person?!"

He wasn't a public servant anymore, so he had no reason to just take shit from some random Karens.

"Go complain to the Blood Cult bastards who killed you, you crazy assholes!"

"......"

As if they hadn't expected him to react this way, the vengeful spirits who'd been roaring suddenly shut their mouths.

And just as the vengeful spirits were about to start screaming again, a shout came from behind him.

"That's right! How dare you speak ill of our Master!"

"He's the one who avenged us! You touch one hair on his head, and we’ll tear you apart!”

Il-mok almost jumped out of his skin upon hearing the unseen voice and spun around.

"Whoa!"

Behind him are spirits numbering as many as the vengeful spirits in front, but they looked a bit different.

Instead of being covered in blood or having missing limbs, they are just translucent figures of ordinary-looking people.

Thanks to their shouts, Il-mok could guess who these spirits are.

'The residents of Pingliang County who were killed by the Ghost Valley Master.'

Now that he thought about it, the reason the vengeful spirits couldn't attack him while he was mediating must have been because of these spirits.

"What!?"

"You say he avenged you!?"

The vengeful ghosts heard this and immediately changed their tune.

"Then avenge us too!"

"The Blood Cult! Kill those Blood Cult bastards!"

Il-mok’s brain went into overdrive, and he came up with an answer.

"Fine! Your beef is with the Blood Cult, right? So as long as they get wiped out, we’re all good, yes?”

"That's right!!"

"Chew up and spit out those bastards who mocked and killed us!"

"I’m not really into cannibalism, but as long as you get your revenge, that’s what counts, right? So, trust me and stay put for now.”

Il-mok had zero plans to fight the Blood Cult himself.

That’s why he was very, very careful not to promise that he would be the one doing the wiping out.

'I already set the Orthodox Faction and the Blood Cult on a collision course. Let them tear each other to pieces.'

If the Orthodox Faction wiped out the Blood Cult, that should count as avenging these ghosts, right?

The reason he was trying to weasel out of it with wordplay wasn't just because fighting the Blood Cult would be troublesome.

Honestly, from Il-mok's perspective, listening to all their grievances one by one was annoying. This was different from the Pingliang County situation.

The residents of Pingliang County were ordinary, innocent people who'd been victimized, but these bastards were martial artists who'd swarmed in trying to plunder treasures from the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave and died for it.

Unlike the Pingliang County residents, he didn't feel sorry for these guys at all.

His only goal was to shut them up so he could get on with his day.

"We'll trust you!"

"Please, we're counting on you!"

For a second, it looked like the ghosts were actually buying it. That is until a different voice emerged.

"I don't give a flying fuck about the Blood Cult! It wasn't the Blood Cult, it was you who killed me!!"

A furious shout rang out from among the vengeful spirits.

When Il-mok looked toward where the voice came from, he saw a familiar face.

It’s the Flying Dragon Pavilion Lord, Jeong Yeong.

'Oh right. I sucked out all his blood to make it look like the Blood Cult killed him.'

Only then did Il-mok fully understand the Ascension Sword's ability.

It didn't just drink blood. A little sip was fine, but if the sword drank too much from one victim, it sucked up their ghost, too.

Il-mok scoffed at the Pavilion Lord’s murderous glare and turned to the crowd.

"You hear that? This fella says he’s going to kill me. Gosh, whatever will I do? If I die, who's going to avenge you all?"

"..."

The second the words were out of his mouth, a hundred pairs of ghostly eyes swiveled to stare at the Pavilion Lord in unison.

"Beat that fucker's ass."

"Kill him!"

"That son of a bitch!!"

And just like that, the mob of ghosts started beating the shit out of a dead man.

"Whew."

Il-mok felt a sense of profound relief, as if a long-standing indigestion had finally subsided.